Minigames

Final Fantasy IX has a large number of sidequests and minigames. The largest of these we've split out to be on their own pages, of course, to make it easier for you to find and read. For this page, we're calling things "minigames" that are one-off events, or are time-limited, or otherwise do not impact the scope of being able to complete the game in any way. If you're not finding what you're looking for here, try the Sidequests page instead.

Jumprope

A jump-rope minigame can be played in Alexandria on three discs. On Disc 1, you can play as Vivi before going to see Tantalus; on Disc 3 and 4, you can play in Alexandria's church.

Note that only Vivi and Eiko can play this: if they're not in the party, the minigame can't be started. If they are in the party, talk to the middle girl to begin. A "(!)" icon will come up -- press it as fast as you can so that the cycle keeps going. Prizes are awarded for consecutive jumps.

I've no real strategies here, since this is more of a "human metronome" thing than full of strategy. Keeping time is crucial, and the time eventually speeds up (~200 jumps?) so it isn't for everyone.

Pluto Squad Round-Up

After control first goes to Steiner, he'll find that most of his knights are off gallavanting and doing things generally unbecoming of their positions. But the princess is missing, and they must be sent out searching. Your reward will be one Elixir, so it'll be worth your while. Here're all the locations.

Pluto Knight

Location

Laudo

In library; talk to him, then find him hiding there again

Kohel

In guardhouse with the moogle

Haagen

Sitting by the lakeside

Weimar

Talking to knight by west tower

Blutzen

In guardhouse with the moogle

Dojebon

In twin-stairway balcony

Breireicht

West tower's stairway

Mullenkedheim

In east wing dining room

Laudo is in the castle library. Talk to him, pick either option, and he'll run away. Exit the room and then come right back in. Laudo's still here, and now hides behind a bookshelf (blindspot). Use the action button to find him once again and this sends him off looking for good.

Kohel is shooting the breeze with Blutzen in the guardhouse. Talk to either of them to send both out searching.

Blutzen is in the guardhouse, talking to Kohel. After Steiner tells them to get changed, enter the guardhouse and talk to 'em again to kick them out onto the beat.

Dojebon is that speedy knight running around the castle's twin-stair balcony. When Steiner tries to talk to him, he often runs the exact opposite way, and this goes for any part of the stair. Wait for him to exit one of the doors, then wait to see which door he heads to. Rush to him at this point and talk to him -- turns out he's already looking! You still need to do this, though, if you want the reward.

Breireicht is climbing the western tower's stairway. Talk to him twice and he'll countdown all the knights currently looking. He'll give Steiner the reward (an Elixir) if everyone's out looking.

Mullenkedheim, the hungriest cannoneer in the knights, is found in the east wing dining room. Talking to him once is sufficient in spreading the word, even if he doesn't go out on patrol...

Knight House Fight Club

Getting its name from the owner of the equipment shop (Knight), a fight club of sorts can be done in a one-on-one match. Talk to the lady attendant and she'll let someone fight the monster. Win and get a prize!

Steiner is a good choice here. Equip him with the Blood Sword, for its HP-drain effect; the Gold Choker accessory, which has to be synthed but halves wind damage; and the Bird Killer ability, taught by the Bronze Armor and increases damage against the foe's type. Auto-Potion helps, too, but isn't imperative.

Equip the Jelly and Beast Killer abilities, and Feather Boots or Desert Boots if you want to reduce earth-type damage (though E'quake isn't that good, really). The Coral Ring will help out immensely, however, so definitely put that on your character. A stratagem: use the Angel Bless' confusion ability in conjunction with the Soul Blade ability to really make this match easy; it doesn't seem to use any of its skills besides Heave in this state!

Equip Bird Killer since it's an Aerial type, and Auto-Reflect will help make Bio worthless (and poison it, too!). Alternatively, you can use the tent trick to inflict Silence/Darkness/Poison to get rid of ALL its attacks. Of course, if you've already bought Zidane a Sargatanas, you can use Soul Blade and instantly petrify it. Ya don't get AP/EXP/Drops, anyway...

Just petrify it with the Sargatanas + Soul Blade combination. If you want an actual fight outta the thing (has about 25000 HP), use the Beast Killer ability and inflict Darkness/Silence, which will make it unable to use Meteor Counter.

Racing Hippaul

This can only be done on the third disc, when the player is controlling Vivi before going to Ruby's mini-theater. Go to the alley between the bar and the town entrance to find Hippaul and his mother, who urges Vivi to race her son so he can trim down his physique. To run the race, just like in real life, you will need to press the square and circle buttons in alternation as fast as you can. Losing races will make Hippaul's "level" go up (talk to him to check it) and when he reaches a certain one, his mother will bestow a prize. Here are the prizes:

As Hippaul gets faster, this minigame gets progressively harder with a normal controller, but it shouldn't be too hard if you've got a turbo controller. As for how you should hold a controller, I suggest using two hands to press the two buttons. I also find I can perform better on how I press if I concentrate on the presses, rather than how Vivi's faring in the race. This allows me to tighten the input sequence without getting mucked up with distractions. Another option on a Dualshock controller is to turn the analog off and use the right analog stick in place of the square and circle buttons by flicking it left and right. It's pretty dang hard later on...

Rank S Treasure Hunter

Once the Hilde Garde 3 airship is obtained on Disc 3 (post-Esto Gaza), the town of Daguerreo can be accessed. To reach it, fly to the largest landmass south of the Forgotten Continent (Sacrobless Island) and enter. Near the library below the synthesis shop, a four-armed man will be adjudicate Zidane on his treasure-hunter skills. The ranks in order of lowest to highest are:

The lowest rank is "H", and from there the ranks ascend to the top of the alphabet. Beyond "A," though, there's one more rank you can achieve: "S."

Things that contribute towards raising the ranking:

Opening treasure chests

Using field icons

Obtaining Key Items

Upon reaching Rank S, the man will get startled and run away. Follow him back to the town entrance to learn that he's not really famous and is a low-rank hunter himself (rank D, to be precise). He really just wants to be stronger so he's not pushed around and called "four-arms." Before he splits, he gives Zidane the key item Rank S Medal! He also divulges his real name, which no mortal has ever heard before or again...

(Note: If you follow the CoN walkthrough, you should be able to get the medal upon first reaching Daguerreo! Good for us.)

Endgame Blackjack

After getting to the last screen in the game, where the prelude plays, press the following combination to play some blackjack:

You'll now be able to play the card game, which is just plain ol' real-life blackjack. The object is to get cards to add up to twenty-one (21), winning the hand. Face cards (Ace, King, Queen, Jack) are worth ten (10) points, while lower cards (2-10) are worth just what # is displayed.

'Hit' gives you one more card.

'Stand' stops you from drawing cards; you see what the dealer gets.

'Double' means you draw another card and if you win, your wager doubles.

'Split' can be used only if your first two cards are of the same value; this will split them into two hands and you each play from there.

If you lose, you'll be sent back to 'The End' screen, but can replay the game again if you want.